US Joe Biden's administration cannot contact social media companies with respect to content moderation, a federal judge in the United States ruled. Judge Terry Doughty ordered the injunction in response to a complaint filed by Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri who said that the US government was going too far in its attempt to push social media platforms to correct inaccurate content.
The government's efforts to stop untrue statements about the Covid-19 pandemic and the election “arguably involve the most massive attack against free speech in United States history,” the judge, who was appointed by former president Donald Trump, ruled.
The judge had earlier blocked the mandate for instructors and healthcare workers to receive Covid-19 vaccination. However, the US Supreme Court overturned this decision.
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Republican senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri called the judgement as "a huge win for the First Amendment and a blow to censorship" while accusing the Joe Biden administration of creating "a vast censorship enterprise".
But the judge made some exceptions to the injunction: the administration can communicate with social media platforms on issues of national security and criminal activity.
{{/usCountry}}But the judge made some exceptions to the injunction: the administration can communicate with social media platforms on issues of national security and criminal activity.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier efforts to restrict false statements about the 2020 election sparked complaints about conservative censorship on social media.